Adhesive applying devices for heel seat lasting machines



June 4, 1968 c. BARTON ETAL 3,386,114

ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICES FOR HEEL SEAT LASTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 31, 1967 a way 4m n ML. lt gm w w w P W W J gww June 4, 1968 c, B N ET AL 3,386,114

ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICES FOR HEEL SEAT LASTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 31, .1967

June 4, 1968 G. c. BARTON ETAL 3,386,114

ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICES FOR HEEL SEAT LASTING MACHINES Filed March 31, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 100 i a w @4 United States Patent Office 3,386,114 Patented June 4, 1968 3,386,114 ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICES FOR HEEL SEAT LASTING MACHINES George C. Barton and George Millar, Leicester, England,

assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, F lemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 627,335 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 23, 1966, 17,861/ 66 Claims. (Cl. 12-125) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A heel seat lasting machine having a shoe support, a holddown against which the heel end portion of the insole of a shoe on the support is clamped and lasting instrumentalities including a heel band and a pair of wipers and means for operating the heel band and wipers wherein the holddown is modified to serve also as a nozzle member through which adhesive is ejected onto the bottom of the insole and/or the inside surface of the lasting margin of the upper after the operation of the heel band and prior to operation of the wipers.

Field of the invention The invention relates to adhesive applying devices and especially to a novel and improved adhesive applying device for a heel seat lasting machine.

Description of prior art Machines for use in lasting the heel seat portions of shoes commonly have a support for a shoe comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, and a holddown against which the heel end of the insole is clamped as a result of relative movement between the shoe support and the holddown. Also provided are lasting instrumentalities including a heel band and a pair of wipers and means for operating the heel band and the wipers in a predetermined sequence first to cause the heel band to shape the upper to the heel end of the last with the lasting margin of the upper held upstanding around the heel end of the last and then to cause the wipers to advance and to close thus to wipe the lasting margin inwardly over and to press it firmly against the heel end portion of the insole of the shoe. Usually, machines of this type will have means for inserting fastenings, for example tacks, to secure the lasting margin of the upper to the insole in lasted position. It has also been proposed, more recently, to utilize adhesive for securing the upper in lasted position. To facilitate such procedure, as disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,271,800, issued Sept. 13, 1966 on an application filed in the name of Jules N. Allard, a heel seat lasting machine may be provided with means including a separate nozzle member surrounding the holddown for applying a quick setting adhesive to the marginal portion of the heel end of the insole, after the upper has been shaped to the heel end of the last by the heel band and just before the wipers are advanced and closed.

While an arrangement such as is disclosed in the Allard patent has proved to be quite satisfactory in operation and is in fact presently in use commercially, it does involve a somewhat complicated and rather expensive mechanism including an adhesive applying nozzle shaped to surround the holddown and to conform generally to the size and shape of the heel end of the insole of the shoe being lasted. Although one size and shape of nozzle may accommodate a fairly wide range of shoes of different style and size, it is usually necessary to provide several different nozzles to handle a full line of sizes on a particular style of last or when changing from one style of last to another. The changeover from one nozzle to another not only involves labor and lost time, especially since the nozzles are heated in use and must be permitted to cool at least somewhat before they can be handled, but also requires the added expense and inconvenience of keeping on hand a number of different nozzles.

Summary of the invention It is an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved adhesive applying device for use in heel seat lasting machines whereby the above-mentioned difficulties are wholly avoided.

With this object in view, and in accordance with features of the invention, the herein illustrated heel seat lasting machine which has a support for a shoe on its last, a holddown against which the end of the insole of the shoe is clamped, a heel band and a pair of wipers, together with means for operating the heel band and wipers is also provided with means forming a part of the holddown for ejecting adhesive onto the bottom face of the insole or the inside surface of the upstanding lasting margin of the upper after the operation of the heel band and just before the wipers are advanced and closed. More particularly, the holddown is formed with a chamber for receiving adhesive and discharge passageways leading outwardly therefrom, and means are provided for ejecting a measured amount of adhesive from this chamber and through the passageways onto the bottom face of the insole and/or the inside surface of the lasting margin of the upper. Associated with the chamber and the holddown are a metering passageway, means for introducing adhesive into the metering passageway and a plunger for thereafter forcing the adhesive from the passageway and into the chamber in the holddown thereby to cause a measured amount of adhesive to be ejected from the chamber through the discharge passageways and onto the bottom face of the insole and/or the inside surface of the lasting margin of the upper which at this time is held upstanding around the heel end of the shoe by the heel band. Since the adhesive is ejected forcibly through the passageways in the holddown in the form of jet streams, it will be deposited on the insole and/or inside surface of the lasting margin of the upper regardless of the particular size and shape of the heel end of the shoe being lasted. Thus, a full range of sizes and different last styles can be accommodated.

The above and other objects of the invention will ap pear in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the claims.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a side view of a heel seat lasting machine provided with an adhesive applying device in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view at an enlarged scale of the adhesive applying device;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in vertical section of the adhesive applying device; and

FIG. 4 is a view in section along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

The herein illustrated machine which is a machine for performing a heel seat lasting operation using adhesive, comprises a main frame in which the operating instrumentalities of the machine are supported, which instrumentalities com-prise a jack post 12 (FIG. 1) which is adapted to be moved upwardly or downwardly by a piston and cylinder arrangement 212 to carry a last L, on which an insole I and an upper U have been assembled, between operative and inoperative positions, a pneumatically controlled wiper head, indicated generally by reference character 14, mounted for linear movement toward or away from the jack post 12, a pneumatically controlled upper tensioning device, indicated generally by reference character 16, backpart forming and clamping means provided by a heel band mounted on the wiper head 14, and wipers 22 slidably mounted in the wiper head 14 which are adapted to be moved between rest positions and operative positions to wipe lasting marginal portions of the upper U over the insole I after adhesive has been ap plied thereto, by a piston and cylinder arrangement 205. The machine also comprises a holddown, indicated generally by reference character 24, which forms part of the adhesive applying device and which is mounted for movement between an operative position, in which the holddown 24 provides a datum level to which, by engagement with the insole U the last L will be raised on upward movement of the jack post 12, and an inoperative rest position. Movement of the holddown 24 is effected through linkages controlled by two piston and cylinder arrangements 32 and 34.

In addition to the holddown member 24, which is of substantially circular cross section and comprises outlet ports 26 in a lower end portion 28 thereof (FIG. 2), the illustrative device also comprises, formed integral with the holddown at a midportion thereof, two laterally disposed lugs 42 and 44, the lug 42 extending to the left, and the lug 44 to the right, see FIGS. 3 and 4. The holddown 24 is fixedly connected at its upper end portion 46 to a bridge member 48 by two dowel plates 50 and 52 and also comprises a rearwardly (see FIG. 2) extending lug 54 in which a heating element 56 is mounted. The holddown member 24 is provided with a cylindrical bore 58 which extends from an end face 60 of the end portion 28 to the midportion thereof where the bore 58 opens out to a larger diameter bore 61 and into which bore 58 the outlet ports 26 lead, the ports being inclined at an angle to the horizontal (see FIG. 3). Fixedly mounted in the bore 61 is a spring retaining bush 62 having a central bore 64 in an upper end portion 63 which opens out into a bore 66. Slidably mounted in the bore 58 is a piston having a piston rod 72, which is formed integral with the piston 70, an upper end portion 71 of the rod 72 extending through a bore 74 in the bridge member 48. The piston rod 72 is threaded at its upper end portion 71 and has mounted thereon adjustable stop nuts .76 and 78. Mounted on the piston rod 72, between a second piston portion 70b and a stop face 62a of the spring retaining bush 62 is a spring which urges the pistons 70 and 70b downwardly until the stop nut 76 engages an upper face 47 of the bridge member 48. The stop nuts 76 and 78 are adjusted so that a lower end portion of the piston 70 protrudes below the end face 60 of the holddown 24 when the holddown is not in engagement with an insole I attached to a last -L on the jack post 12.

The lug 42 is provided with two concentric cylindrical bores and 92, the bore 90, which is of smaller diameter, opening into the bore 92. The bores 90 and 92 provide a passageway between an end face 94 of the lug 42 and the bore 61. Slidably mounted in the bores 90 and 92 is a metering plunger forming part of a molten adhesive metering device, a passageway 93 being also provided in the lug 42 for connecting the bore 92 to atmosphere to facilitate movement of the metering plug 100 therein. Fixedly mounted on the end face 94 of the lug 42 is a cylinder 102 (forming part of adhesive ejection means of the illustrative device) in which is slidably mounted a piston 104. The piston 104 is provided with a piston rod 106 and is urged to the left of the cylinder 102 (see FIG. 3) by a spring 108 so that in a rest condition a gap 110 is opened between an end portion 112 of the piston rod 106 and the metering plunge-r 100.

'Fixedly mounted on a right hand end, see FIG. 3, of

the bridge member 48 is a bracket 122 which extends forwardly and to the right of the bridge member 48. The

bracket 122 is provided at a lower end portion 122a with a cylinder block 124 which comprises a cylindrical bore 126 the axis of which is concentric with the axis of the tapped bore in the lug 44. Threaded into the bore 120 is a member 128 which has a central bore 130 provided therein. Fixedly mounted on the member 128 is a bracket 132 which has formed therein a bore 136 concentric with the bores 120, 12 6 and 130, and a passageway 138 which extends normally to the bore 136. The bracket 132 also has mounted therein a heating element 134. Fixedly mounted in the bore 136 is a bush member 140 having a bore 142 pro-vided therein and two passageways 141 which extend normally to the bore 142 and connect it with the passageway 138 through an annular chamber formed by a reduced diameter portion 143 of the member 140 and the wall of the bore 136. Slidably mounted in the bore 142 is a piston rod element 144 which has formed therein a bore 146. The element 144 also has a portion 148 of reduced diameter which forms with the wall of the bore 142 an annular chamber into which the passageways 141 open, and six passageways 150 are provided in the element 144 at its reduced diameter portion 148, which passageways 150 extend normally to the bore 146 and also open into the annular chamber aforementioned, The bore 146 extends from the passageways 150 to the left hand end face of the element 144 (viewing FIG. 4). Thus, when piston 70b is in the position shown in FIG. 3, molten adhesive can be fed through the passageway 138 formed in the bracket 132, through the passageways 141, 150 and into bores 146, 130 and 120, through the bore 58 and an annular chamber formed in the bore 61 between an end face of the spring retaining bush 62 and the wall of the bore, into the bore 90. The piston rod element 144 is connected by a coupling 156 to a piston rod 158 of a piston 127 in the cylinder block 124, see FIG. 4.

The bridge member 48 is fixedly mounted, in the illustrative machine, on end portions of a pair of parallel links 160, 162 which are pivotally mounted by trunnion pins 164, 166 in slide blocks 168, 170 which are slidably mounted in opposed guideways 172, 174 respectively, the guideways 172, 174 being formed in bracket members 176, 178 which are fixedly mounted in the main frame 38 of the illustrative machine, FIG. 1.

The links 160, 162 comprise rearwardly projecting end portions 180, 182 respectively which are pivotally connected to depending links 184, 186 by a pivot roll 190. The links 184, 186 are pivotally connected to a piston rod 192 of the piston and cylinder arrangement 34 by a pivot pin 194, the arrangement 34 being fixedly mounted on the main frame. The links 184, 186 are pivotally connected at mid-portions 196, 198 to a bridge member 200 which is fixedly mounted on a piston rod 202 of the piston and cylinder arrangement 32 which is pivotally mounted on the main frame 38 of the illustrative machine.

The wiper head 14 of the illustrative machine is slidably mounted in guideways provided in the main frame 38 and is moved toward or away from a last L, mounted on the jack post 12, by a piston and cylinder arrangement 210.

The heel band 20, which, as previously stated, is also carried by the wiper head 14, is adapted to engage the heel end of an upper U mounted on a last L supported by the jack post 12 and to shape the upper to its last, two piston and cylinder arrangements 206, 208 being provided for this purpose. The amount of advancement by the wiper head 14 toward the last L is governed by the engagement by the heel band with the upper U on the last L.

In a cycle of operation of the herein illustrated machine an operator places a last L, with an insole I attached thereto and an upper U mounted thereon, on a last pin 10 of the jack post 12, the last L being positioned bottom upwards in the illustrative machine with its heel end extending into the machine. The operator depresses a treadle (not shown) to cause the holddown 24 to be moved to the operative position in which it is shown, by actuation of the piston and cylinder arrangements 32 and 34, the holddown 24 moving forwardly and downwardly until the bridge member 48 engages a stop face (not shown). The lower end portion 28 of the holddown member 24 is now disposed slightly above the heel end portion of the last L, mounted on the jack post 12, at a height relative to the wipers 22 such that when the jack post is subsequently moved until the insole engages the holddown member 24, the last L is then disposed at the desired heightwise position relative to the plane of the wipers 22. The jack post 12 is caused to move upwardly to move the insole on the last bottom into engagement with the holddown member 24 thereby ensuring that the last L is clamped on the jack post in said relationship with respect to the wipers 22. The upper U is then tensioned about the last L by the pincers 214 of the upper tensionin device 16 which is mounted on the jack post 12. and is disposed forwardly thereof, that is toward an operator standing at the front of the machine. The pincers are actuated by a pneumatically operated piston and cylinder arrangement 216. The wiper head 14 is then caused to move forwardly by the piston and cylinder arrangement 210 in the machine until the heel band 20 engages the back of the upper U mounted on the last L, see FIG. 2.

When the device is in a rest condition, that is when the holddown 24 is in its rest position, the spring 80 urges the pistons 70 and 76b downwardly (see FIG. 3) not only causing the piston 70 to project beyond the end face 60 of the holddown member 24, but also effectively sealing off the bore 58, by means of the piston 76b, from the bores 90 and 120 and thereby preventing adhesive from leaking through the outlet ports 26. When on the other hand a last L, with an upper U mounted thereon, is placed on the last pin 10 and the jack post is moved upwardly as aforesaid into engagement with the holddown 24 now in its operative position, the insole I first contacts the piston and urges it upwardly against the action of the spring 86 until the insole engages the end face 60 of the holddown member 24, thus moving the piston 7911 upwardly to connect the bores 58, 90 and 120.

The wiper head 14 is now moved forwardly until the heel band 26 engages the heel end of the shoe upper U and the two piston and cylinder arrangements 206, 208 are actuated to apply pressure to side portions of the heel band 26 to shape the upper U to the last L. Pressure is then created in the cylinder 162 on the left hand side of the piston 164 (see FIG. 3) causing the piston to move against the action of the spring 108 to close the gap 110. The end portion 112, of the piston rod 106, strikes a hammer blow against the metering plunger 100 which moves to the right (see FIG. 3) to cause molten adhesive to be ejected simultaneously in a plurality of highly directional jets from the outlet ports 26 onto the insole I and/or upper U. The wipers 22 are then advanced to wipe the lasting marginal portions 30 over the insole I on the last L and the holddown is retracted to its rest position, by the action of the piston and cylinder arrangemcnts 32 and 34.

When the holddown is retracted from engagement with the insole and the illustrative device is returned to its rest position, molten adhesive is caused to flow through the passageways 138, 141 and 150 into the bores 146, 130 and 120. With the piston 76b now disposed between the bores 12% and 9t), molten adhesive flows thereabout through the annular chamber formed at the lower end of the bore 61, the pressure applied by the adhesive as it flows being sufficient to cause the metering plug 100 to be pushed back against a shoulder formed on the cylinder block 102. When the plunger has been thus pushed back, the piston 127 in the cylinder 124 is moved to the right (see FIG. 4) by fluid under pressure admitted to cylinder 126, to cause the passageway 150 to be moved out of alignment with the passageway 141 and thus to cut off the supply of molten adhesive.

When the holddown 24 is moved to its rest position as aforementioned, after the wipers 22 have advanced to wipe the lasting marginal portions of the upper over the insole I, the jack post 12 is moved upwardly a small distance, while the wipers remain in an overwipe position, to apply bedding pressure to the lasting marginal portions.

When the lasting marginal portions of the upper have been securely bonded to the insole I, the jack post 12 is moved downwardly a small distance, the wipers 22 are retracted and side pressures applied by the heel band 20 to the upper are released, the wiper head 14 is returned to its rest position and thus carries the heel band 20 away from the shoe, and the upper tensioning device 16 is caused to release the upper U. Thus the last L is released and can now be removed by the operator, the jack post moving downwardly to a rest position in readiness for a succeeding cycle of operation.

The upper tensioning device 16 is mounted for limited radial movement about the jack post 12 to move the toe pincers 214 between a first and a second position according to whether the machine is to operate on a left or right shoe. The device comprises a bracket 250, FIG. 1, which is freely mounted on a lower end portion 12a of the jack post 12 and is movable between first and second positions governed by lugs (not shown) on the main frame 38, by means of a piston and cylinder arrangement 252, the admission of air to the cylinder being controlled by the operator, by means of a valve (not shown), so that the upper tensioning device can be swung to carry the pincer to its first or second position according to whether the shoe to be operated upon is a left or a right.

If desired, the illustrative machine may be so arranged that the toe pincer 214 is moved to its first and second positions alternately in the operation of the machine whereby left and right shoes may be operated upon in alternate cycles of operation of the machine.

Referring to FIG. 3, the discharge passageways, or outlet ports 26, 26 are so disposed angularly with respect to the vertical axis of the holddown 28 that the jet streams of adhesive ejected therefrom, by the action of the plunger 100, impinge both on the upper surface of the insole I and also on the inside surface of the upper U, at this time held upstanding around the heel end of the shoe by the action of the heel band 20. As will be apparent, with a shoe of considerably larger size most, if not all, of the ejected adhesive would strike the insole while, with a much smaller shoe, most, if not all, of the adhesive would be deposited on the inside surface of the lasting margin of the upper. By changing the angularity of the discharge passageways or outlet ports 26, 26, deposition of the adhesive can be substantially confined either to the insole or the upper. In any case, however, immediately after the adhesive has been so deposited on the insole and/or upper, the lasting margin of the upper is wiped inwardly over and pressed firmly against the bottom face of the insole. During such inward wiping action, the deposited adhesive will be spread or squeezed out in directions extending inwardly from the marginal edge of the insole so that a satisfactory adhesive bond between the lasting margin and insole will be produced as the lasting margin is firmly pressed against the insole by the wipers.

As indicated above, when there is no shoe clamped against the holddown the piston 70 is moved downwardly by the spring so that the piston 70b engages the shoulder provided by bore 61 and thereby effectively shuts off communication between the metering passageway and the adhesive receiving chamber formed in the holddown by the bore 58. Accordingly, although the outlet ports or discharge passageways 26, 26 remain open at all times, flow of adhesive from within the bore 58 out through the ports 26, 26 will now be prevented and so-called drooling of adhesive will be avoided. Also, when the piston 70b, which, of course, serves as a valve member, is in this position, adhesive may be introduced into the bore 90, which serves as a metering passageway, thus to return the plunger 100 to the position in which it is shown in FIG. 3, following its previous operation to cause adhesive to be ejected through ports 26, 26 as above explained. On the other hand, when a shoe is clamped against the holddown, the piston 70b will be elevated, to the position shown in FIG. 3 and thereby opening communication between the metering passageway 90 and the adhesive receiving bore formed in the holddown. At this time, the valve means which controls the flow of adhesive through the inlet passageway is in closed position so that operation of the plunger 100 causes adhesive to be ejected through the passageways 26, 26.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for lasting the heel portion of a shoe having a support for a shoe comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, a holddown having a shoe engaging surface, means for effecting relative movement between the support and holddown to cause the heel end portion of the insole of a shoe on the support to be clamped against the shoe engaging surface of the holddown, lasting instrumentalities including a heel band and pair of wipers, and means for operating the heel band and wipers first to cause the heel band to shape the upper to the heel end of the last with the lasting margin of the upper upstanding around the heel portion of the shoe and then to cause the wipers to wipe the lasting margin inwardly over and to press it firmly against the heel end portion of the insole, means associated with and forming a part of the holddown for ejecting adhesive onto the bottom face of the insole and/ or the inside surface of the upstanding lasting margin of the upper, after the operation of the heel band and prior to the operation of the wipers.

2. In a machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein the holddown is provided with a chamber for receiving adhesive and discharge passageways leading outwardly from said chamber and wherein means are provided for ejecting adhesive from said chamber and through said passageways onto the bottom face of the insole and/ or the inside surface of the upstanding margin of the upper, after the operation of the heel band and prior to the operation of the wipers.

3. A machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein means are provided for ejecting a measured amount of adhesive from said chamber and through said passageways onto the bottom face of the insole and/ or the inside surface of the upstanding lasting margin of the upper, after the operation of the heel band and prior to the operation of the wipers.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said holddown is formed with a chamber and discharge passageways leading outwardly from said chamber adjacent to the shoe engaging surfaces of the holddown, and an inlet passageway and a metering passageway communicating with each other and with said chamber, and wherein there are also provided means for introducing adhesive through the inlet passageway and into said metering passageway, and means for thereafter forcing adhesive from the metering passageway into said chamber thereby to cause adhesive to be ejected from the discharge passgeways leading outwardly from the chamber and onto the bottom face of the insole and/ or the inside surface of the upstanding lasting margin of the upper, after the operation of the heel band and prior to the operation of the Wipers.

5. A machine as set forth in claim 4 wherein said adhesive forcing means comprises a plunger slidable in said metering passageway and wherein means are provided for moving the plunger along said metering passageway to force adhesive therefrom and into said chamber and to cause adhesive to be ejected from said discharge passageways.

6. In a machine as set forth in claim 4 wherein said adhesive forcing means comprises a plunger slidably mounted in said metering passageway, and wherein there are provided means for introducing adhesive into the metering passageway to move said plunger in one direction and means for thereafter moving the plunger in the opposite direction to force adhesive therefrom into said chamber and to cause adhesive to be ejected from said discharge passageways.

I. In a machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said holddown is formed with an elongated chamber for receiving adhesive, discharge passageways, an inlet passageway and a metering passageway connected to the inlet passageway, and wherein there are provided a valve member within the adhesive receiving chamber adapted in one position to connect the inlet passageway and metering passageway with the adhesive receiving chamber, and in another position of to shut off the communication between the adhesive receiving chamber and said inlet and metering passageways, means for introducing adhesive through the inlet passageway and into the metering passageway when the valve member is in said second mentioned position and means for forcing the adhesive from the metering passageway into the adhesive receiving chamber, when the valve member is in the first mentioned position, to cause adhesive to be ejected from said discharge passageways.

8. In a machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein said valve member is adapted to be moved to its first position by a shoe as it is clamped against the holddown and wherein a spring is provided for moving the valve member to the second position when no shoe is clamped against the holddown.

9. In a machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein said adhesive forcing means comprises a plunger slidable in said metering pasageway and wherein means are provided for moving the plunger along the metering passageway to force adhesive therefrom into said chamber and to cause adhesive to be ejected from said discharge passageways.

10. In a machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein said adhesive forcing means comprises a plunger slidably mounted in said metering passageway, and wherein there are provided means for introducing adhesive into the metering passageway to move said plunger in one direction and means for thereafter moving the plunger in the opposite direction to force adhesive therefrom into said chamber and to cause adhesive to be ejected from said discharge passageway.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,324,510 7/1943 Jorgensen 118-42 3,039,121 6/1962 Weinschenk 1210.1

3,228,047 1/1966 Schwabe 1212.4

3,271,800 9/1966 Allard 1212.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,273,739 10/1961 France.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

